MessageMapping:CreatingaCommunicationsRoadmap

Gelb Consulting, an Endeavor Management Company

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MessageMapping:CreatingaCommunicationsRoadmap

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Withmessagemapping,youcanplanwhattosayandwhentosayitToday’smarketingenvironment is crowdedwith communication.Messagesaredeliveredbydifferentstakeholderswhodonotdeliverthesamemessage.Instead,theyendup“wingingit”whenaddressingcommonquestionsorconcerns,resultinginmessagesthatareinconsistent,donotalignwiththebrand,orthatsetunrealisticcustomerexpectations.Inaddition,marketingdepartments,mainlydrivenby“creatives,”trytoreinventeveryadsothat itreflectsthe latest idea.Inalmostallcases, this ispoorstrategicmarketing. It typicallytakesaconsumerseveraltimesbeforeamessageactuallystartstoresonate.Changingsuchtoorepetitivelycreatesconfusionandunderminesrecall.Comparedtomostmarketingcommunicationsplanningtools,themessagemaphastheuniqueadvantageofvisuallyrepresentingyourkeymessagesinaconciseformat(seeexampleunderstep2ofthemessagemappingprocess).Thus,itcanbeusedquicklyandiseasilyunderstood.Itbecomesatemplateforadvertising,websitecopy,andconversations.Andmessagemappingcanbeusedforalltypesofaudiences.Messagemapscanalsobecreatedforspecificcircumstances,suchascommunicationduringacrisis or organizational change.Messagemaps are effective for these purposes, but are alsofundamental for everyday situations, such as answering common questions, settingexpectations,orclearlycommunicatingdifferentiationandmanagingexpectations.Wehavefoundthatmessagemappingismosteffectivewhenitisalinkinthestrategicmarketingprocess.

MessageMapping:CreatingaCommunicationsRoadmap

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CreatingamessagemapisaninteractiveprocesswithyourteamStep1:ResearchReviewOurmessagemappingprocessbeginsananalysisandunderstandingofthebrandpromiseandpillars.Thisincludesmakinguseofmarketingresearchtounderstandthekeydecisiondrivers,attitudestoreinforceandattitudestoovercome.The core of our approach is ensuring that messagemapping is a research‐driven creative process.Weuseexisting information/research and conduct additionalresearchwhenneeded.Ourexperience indicates thatamessage map supported by research is best suited toencouragingbehavioranddeliveringROI.

Step2:MessageDevelopmentArmed with information from the research review,your team members collectively brainstorm keyelementstoincludeinthemessagemap.Thediscussionshould be led by an experienced facilitator who canguidetheteamtothinkabouthowmessageswillalignwiththebrandandaddresstheneedsofeachaudience(asidentifiedintheresearch).

Whendevelopingmessages,itishelpfultorememberthesetips:

Keepthembriefandsimple(thinkheadlines) Makesuretheyareeasytounderstand Thinklong‐term(aretheyflexibleforfuturechangesorissuesthatmayarise?) Considerhowyouwillsupportthesemessages(research,narratives,photos,etc.) Confirmthemessageaddressestheneedsidentifiedbytheresearch

Andwhileyoumightnotincludeallofthesepointsinanad,itwillbecomeimportantinothertouchpointslikeconversationsandwebsitecontent.

How do they see us today? 

‐ How they make decisions 

‐ Attitudes to overcome 

‐ Attitudes to reinforce 

How do we want them to see us? 

‐ Primary messages 

‐ Differentiating messages 

‐ Reasons to believe 

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Messagemapsarecreatedforeachkeyaudience,suchascustomersandprospectivecustomersofaparticularproductorserviceline.Othertimes,marketersmayneedtoimplementmessagemapping for internal audiences. This is often the case during organizational change ordevelopmentofbrandstrategy.ExampleofaPartialMessageMap

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StakeholderAnalysisandPlanningDelivering on the messages created often requires internal change. Obtaining support fornecessarychangeswillallowyourmessagemaptodeliveronitspromises.Stakeholderanalysisandplanningistooltohelpwiththis.Stakeholderanalysisrequiresyoutoanswerkeyquestionsaboutchangesrequired.

1. Whoisaffected?2. Howmighttheybeaffected?3. Wherearetheynow?(presentbeliefs/reactionstothechanges)4. Wheredowewantthemtobe?(howtogettothedesiredstate)

Tohelpanswerthesequestions,considerthefollowing:

• Howthechangesaffectthem• Theiranticipatedattitudesorbeliefsaboutthechanges• Resourcesorsupporttheywillneedtomakethechangessuccessful• Whichchangeswillrequirethemosteffort?• Whichchangeswilldeliverthegreatestoutcome?• Howchangeswillbeprioritized

Developingstrategiestosupportthechangeswillbringtolifethepromisesinthemessagemap.Examplesofstrategiestobuildsupportforchangeinclude:

Communicatingwithstakeholdersaboutthepotentialimpactofanynecessarychanges Developingincentivesfordesiredbehaviors Increasingdecision‐makingopportunitiestodevelopsharedresponsibilityforthe

changes Identifyingpeople,techniquesoreventsthatcaninfluenceattitudesaboutthechange.

Building support for changes may also require training, education or problem‐solvingworkshops.Step3:ImplementationOnce the message map has been approved andinternalprocessesareinplacetodeliveronpromisesmade,theteamcandeterminethemostappropriatemediatoconveythemessages(i.e.,touchpointssuchasadvertising,executivemessaging,events,articles,websiteandforums).

How will we convince them? 

‐ Touchpoint prioritization 

Message templates 

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Theoutcomesofthismessagemappingprocessinclude:

Amessagemapspecificallycreatedforandbyyourteamtocommunicatekeymessagesthatarefoundedinresearch

Atoolforensuringcommunicationisconsistentthroughoutthesystem(andthattheexperiencelivesuptowhatispromised)

Abasistointroducethissamemethodtootherdepartmentsorsegmentsasneeded Anadaptable,long‐termcatalystforcreatingspecificmessaging

TakingActionArmedwithanunderstandingofhowyourstakeholdersperceiveyourbrandtoday,youcanenvisionhowyouwantthemtoviewyourbrand–andhowyouwilluseconsistentmessagingtogetthere.Althoughamessagemapisagreattool,eventhebestplannedmessagingwillnotbesuccessful if itdoesnotdeliveron thepromisesmade.Awell‐plannedmessagemap thatmatches the experience delivered is a great tool for the entire organization and will helpmarketingdepartmentsmatchtheircreativeadvertisingwithconsistentmessagesthatresonatewithconsumers.

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AboutEndeavorEndeavorManagement, is an internationalmanagement consulting firm that collaborativelyworks with their clients to achieve greater value from their transformational businessinitiatives.EndeavorservesasacatalystbyprovidingpragmaticmethodologiesandindustryexpertiseinTransformationalStrategies,OperationalExcellence,OrganizationalEffectiveness,andTransformationalLeadership.Ourclientsincludethoseresponsiblefor:

• BusinessStrategy• MarketingandBrandStrategy• Operations• TechnologyDeployment• StrategicHumanCapital• CorporateFinance

Thefirm’s40yearheritagehasproducedasubstantialportfolioofprovenmethodologies,deepoperationalinsightandbroadindustryexperience.Thisexperienceenablesourteamtoquicklyunderstandthedynamicsofclientcompaniesandmarkets.Endeavor’sclientsspantheglobeandaretypicallyleadersintheirindustry.GelbConsulting,awhollyownedsubsidiary,monitorsorganizationalperformanceanddesignswinningmarketingstrategies.Gelbhelpsorganizationsfocustheirmarketinginitiativesbyfullyunderstanding customer needs through proven strategic frameworks to guide marketingstrategies,buildtrustedbrands,deliverexceptionalexperiencesandlaunchnewproducts.Ourwebsites:www.endeavormgmt.comwww.gelbconsulting.comwww.gulfresearch.com